I hate how I always start my blog entries like this…but here we go
again. Sorry it's been, like, a long time since I updated this thing.
But I am now!
First up, a big waterfall and bridge jumping. Until last month, I'd
been in Tanzania for a whole year, but never set foot in another
African country. That' just silly. So when our "summer break" in June
finally arrived, five friends and I jumped on a train in Mbeya headed
toward Zambia. The train was quite the experience – let's just say
I'll never complain about Amtrak being a couple hours late again. The
train we were getting on started off in Dar es Salaam, out on the
coast. By the time it arrived in Mbeya, it was already around six
hours behind. Three of the six of us travellers started off in Dar, so
we got some warning about the lateness but still ended up sitting
around the Mbeya train station for a few hours. It was actually an
interesting place. With its grand architecture and big clocks
everywhere, I'm pretty sure it was built by the Germans. It was weird;
it felt like walking into Europe, except a 1940's Europe that hasn't
seen much maintenance since then.
After a long wait the train finally arrived. Though not even close to
the madness that are Tanzanian buses, it was still crowded with people
and all types of baggage (though I didn't see any live animals, a big
difference from buses). Our friends were excited to see us and our
supplies of food, water, and of course wine, though it meant they'd be
a bit more crowded. We rented out a second class compartment, which
basically consisted of two sets of triple decker bunk beds and a tiny
table all squished in the space of a minivan. That along with the 8
hour delay at the border with Zambia (who knows why…) meant we all got
to know each other pretty well! It wasn't bad though – there was a
dining car and sometimes showers, so we were well fed and cleanish by
the time we arrived. Most of the people who work on the train are
Zambian so don't speak Swahili (but do speak really good English), so
we all had a couple awkward moments when we said "Habari za jioni?"
("How's the evening?") and they said "What..?" I think my favorite
part about the train was its lack of safety standards. That means a
few doors were missing and all the windows opened wide enough to stick
the top half of your body out. Sticking your head out the window and
watching the African landscape fly by was awesome. And yes, dogs also
like doing that but that does not diminish the experience okay?
So, right, we finally reached the end of the line. We were headed to
Livingstone, and the world wonder Victoria Falls, which is all the way
down on the border with Zimbabwe. The train dropped us at
Kapiri-Mposhi, a couple hours outside of Zambia's capital, Lusaka.
After a quick bus ride we got into Lusaka and headed to a backpackers
for the night. Lusaka is in many ways a modern city with grocery
stores, shopping malls and fast food joints. We spent a day doing
things we thought were amazing but you probably don't. We got donuts
and pizza, wondered around grocery stores for literally hours, and got
complicated coffee drinks for as much money as we make in a day. Then
off to Livingstone, another 8 hour or so journey. We had heard
hitchhiking was easy in Zambia, so a few of us went for it! It was
really fun – we met interesting people – a woman working for USAID, a
safari tour operator, and an Irish guy working at a fishing operation,
to name a few.
K, finally, Livingstone and Victoria Falls. We stayed at a backpackers
again. It was strange being back in that culture, meeting fellow
travellers from all over the world. Victoria Falls is crazy. I like to
think I know my waterfalls pretty well, but this one was in a
different league than any other I've seen. In June the water level is
really high and I believe at that time of year it is the largest
waterfall in the world (measured by flow…cubic meters per second). I
don't have internet as I write this though, so I might be lying. I'm
also pretty sure it is the largest in the world as measured by width.
It's a mile wide. It is a wall of water one mile wide. That's, like,
difficult to comprehend. Because of the spray, there's nowhere on the
ground you can actually see the whole thing. Speaking of the spray,
it's crazy. Victoria Falls is a little strange; the Zambezi River
spreads out and falls into this giant crack which funnels all the
water back together at the bottom. Just look up a picture, it'll make
more sense. Anyway, during the high water season you can't go to the
bottom of the crack because it's full of water, so you see the falls
from the other side of the crack instead. Even there though, it's
raining all the time from the spray, and more intense than any normal
rain. We all got completely soaked in a matter of seconds.
So besides seeing the falls, we jumped off a bridge. There's an
awesome giant bridge over the river next to the falls and you can
bungee jump off the middle of it. Now, Emily and I didn't actually
bungee jump, but did this thing where you jump off and freefall for a
while and then get caught by the arc of a rope you are attached to.
You don't end up upside down but you still have to walk off the edge
of a bridge with the ground 300 feet below you and freefall for like
3.5 seconds (I calculated it). I feel badass. Emily and I did it
together, which meant we had to walk off at exactly the same time. I'm
fairly sure if she wasn't there I would have chickened out. It was
scary. My palms are sweating remembering it. Heights are SO SCARY.
That was Zambia and Victoria falls! It was a really fun trip. There
are a couple more stories that aren't blog-appropriate, so just ask
me! What's next? Ahh, projects. I've got a few projects in the works
including a Boys Conference, a book drive for my school's library, and
working with a group promoting "hands on" science.
I'm planning a Boys Conference with a few other volunteers who live
around the Mbeya region. Boys and Girls Conferences are really popular
for Peace Corps Volunteers. Basically a few volunteers work with local
counterparts (usually other teachers at their schools) to design a
weekend full of sessions usually relating to family planning,
HIV/AIDS, girls empowerment, career possibilities, etc. Ours will be
centered on issues related to gender equality, HIV/AIDS and careers,
particularly in science. Figuring out the complicated application
process for grants like these is a little tricky, but a good skill to
have I guess. We're in the approval process but hope to have the
conference over the weekend of October 5-6.
I've also just sent in the initial application for a grant to buy
textbooks for my school library. I'm excited about this one because a
lack of textbooks is a major concern at the school and something my
students ask me about all the time. There are only a few current
textbooks in the library now, so it'll be really good to get enough so
that even if students don't have their own textbooks, at least they
have consistent access to ones. This will be a PCPP (Peace Corps
Partnership Program) grant. That's a fancy way of saying it goes up on
their website and anyone can donate money. And by anyone, I mean my
friends and family. And by that, I mean YOU. It's not up yet but it
will be soon. Get ready.
What else? I'm also now on the Shika na Mikono ("Grab with your
Hands") committee, which tries to promote the use of hands on science
activities in the classroom using cheap, locally available resources.
We're working on a manual that was started a few years ago by
volunteers and also going to new volunteers' trainings to show them
some cool science labs. Hopefully we'll also be working with the
Tanzania Ministry of Education to get the word out beyond the Peace
Corps community. We'll see!
K, that's it for now. Thanks for reading and expect to hear from me
again soon, this time pointing you towards a website where you can
donate to help kids in Africa. How great is that? So great.
